Two NGHS staff honored with awards at recent healthcare gala

Published: Friday, May 5, 2023

Between the two of them, Erine Raybon-Rojas, MD, and Juan Turner care for a wide range of patients who make their way through Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS). Dr. Raybon-Rojas is a pulmonary critical care intensivist at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) in Gainesville while Chef Juan is the director of nutritional services at NGMC Barrow. Recently, they were both recognized with awards at the Help for Healthcare Professionals’ (HHCP) Night of Glam & Gratitude awards gala. HHCP is a non-profit organization based in Atlanta that aims to reach healthcare professional communities in the area to mitigate healthcare worker burnout and increase access to mental health care for healthcare workers, among other things.

“We’re thankful to have both of these outstanding individuals on our team,” said John Kueven, president of NGMC Gainesville and Barrow. “Their dedication to what they do every day shines a bright light on the communities they serve, and we’re lucky to have them.”

Dr. Raybon-Rojas is triple board-certified in critical care medicine, internal medicine and pulmonary disease, and was awarded the Physician of the Year award at the gala. She is part of NGMC’s Graduate Medical Education core faculty; chair and co-founder of NGHS’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force; and chair for the Pulmonary Embolism Response Team initiative. On top of all of that, she has always worked closely with the community, speaking on multiple topics and to many groups whenever called upon.

Chef Juan has spent his years creating menus at NGMC Barrow, cooking up meals for everyone around and educating patients on healthy choices. Because of this work, Chef Juan was awarded the Nutritional Wellness Champion of the Year award at the gala. He not only does work in the hospital, but in the business and professional community, too. He has catered meals for the Rotary Club of Winder’s weekly meetings and Barrow County Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Women in Business meetings. Chef Juan currently serves on the Advisory Committee for Wimberly’s Roots, an organization that helps the community gain the knowledge and skills needed to grow their own food and access healthy food and health-related information. He also serves as a mentor and coach at the Brad Akins branch of the YMCA of Georgia’s Piedmont.